After Boston Marathon Bombings, Beer Community Rallies

The beer community in Boston rallied to support victims of the bombings at the finish line of the Boston Marathon on April 15. Photo by Mike Johnson.

By Heather Vandenengel

It did not take long for the New England beer community to join together and rally support for victims, friends, families and the Boston community after the bombings at the finish line of the Boston Marathon on April 15.

The morning after the attacks, which killed three and injured more than 250, the Craft Beer Cellar in Belmont, MA, announced that it was donating more than $1,700 to the victims and the families of the bombings; it had originally raised the money to help launch the new location for a beer store in Winchester, MA.

Meanwhile, David Carlson, owner of Marshall Wharf Brewing Co. in Belfast, ME, posted a thread on a BeerAdvocate forum saying he wanted to “help heal Boston with beer.” With help from Framingham, MA-based lager brewery Jack’s Abby, he held an event at a Framingham bar one day later featuring beer donated from 25 breweries and a raffle with prizes donated from local beer stores and beer geeks. The event raised almost $9,000 for The One Fund Boston, established to help those most affected by the attacks.

For the second year, marathon sponsor Boston Beer Co. released Sam Adams 26.2 Brew, a limited-edition gose brewed for the marathon and sold at bars along the marathon route and around Boston. This year, it donated all profits from the sales of the beer, as well as donations accepted from visitors who toured the brewery in April, to the Greg Hill Foundation, which responds to immediate needs of families affected by tragedy.

There are many more of these stories: Mystic Brewery in Chelsea, MA, donated sales from the tasting room release of its 14-month barrel-aged flor-sherry yeast-fermented ale, Entropy; Night Shift Brewing in Everett raised over $1,200 with sales from the taproom-exclusive release of its Berliner Weisse-style beer, Ever Weisse; Harpoon Brewery announced three “Brewed for Boston” nights, where all beer and pretzel sales at its beer hall would be donated to The One Fund.